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Following the end of World War I and the re-purchase of two Aquila-class cruisers from Italy, the Romanian Government decided to order also two modern destroyers from the Pattison Yard in Naples. The design was based on the British Shakespeare-class destroyer leaders. However they differed in that the turbines were in echelon layout.[1] The guns were supplied by Bofors and the fire control equipment by Siemens. The Romanians wished to order two more vessels but could not afford to do so due to economic problems.[1]

The two ships of the Regele Ferdinand class were 101.90 metres (334 ft 4 in) long overall, with a beam of 9.60 metres (31 ft 6 in) and draught of 3.51 metres (11 ft 6 in). Each destroyer a complement of 212.[1] Each of the two warships displaced 1,422 tons standard with a full load displacement amounting to 1,880 tons.[2]

The ships were initially armed with five 120-millimetre (4.7 in) guns in single mounts as their main armament. For anti-aircraft defense, the two destroyers were initially given one 76 mm (3 in) gun. Two German 37 mm anti-aircraft guns were also fitted by June 1941, as well as two twin 13 mm machine guns and two depth charge throwers.[3] For anti-ship warfare, the destroyers were armed with six 533-millimetre (21 in) torpedo tubes mounted in two groups of three, plus the capability to carry 50 mines and 40 depth charges in two racks. In 1943, the two warships were each fitted with German S-Gerät sonar. By early 1944, one of the 120 mm guns was landed and the 76 mm gun was also removed, the two guns being replaced by one 88 mm SK C/30 naval/AA gun and four 20 mm (0.8 in) anti-aircraft guns.[1][4]

On the capitulation of Romania to the Soviet Union in August 1944, the two ships were incorporated into the Soviet Black Sea Fleet as Likhoy (Лихой, ex-Regele Ferdinand) and Letuchiy (Летучий, ex-Regina Maria), formally commissioned on 20 October 1944.[10] They were returned in 1951 and served under the numbers D21 and D22 in the Naval Forces of the Romanian People's Republic until the end of the 1950s.